Picker stick check



Feb. 20, 1940.

(:.[J.IBFQCJVVPJ PICKER STICK CHECK Filed June 10, 19:59

2 sheets sheet 1 BY EZ ATTORNEY.

Feb. 20, 1940. c. D. BROWN 2,191,422

I PICKER STICK CHECK Filed June 10,1939 2 Sheets-Shet 2 INVENTOR. C3464. D. BEOW/V.

- ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 20, 1940 v UNITED: srrss.

PATENT OFFICE 2,191,422 PICKER STICK CHECK Carl D. Brown, Hopedale, Mass assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass, a. corporation of Maine Application June 10, 1939, Serial No. 279.537

7 Claims.

The present invention pertains to fly shuttle looms and more particularly relates to picker stick checking means. for such looms.

'Loomsof the type to which my invention applies commonly include a reciprocating lay comprising a lay beam and a rocker shaft about which the lay beam oscillates, a picker stick carried by the lay, a picker stick check comprising a suitable device usually in the form of a flexible 10 check strap encircling the picker stick and moved by the latter at each end of its sweep, and friction members for applying friction to the check' accessible for adjustment when the loom is running.

I find that, particularlyon high speed looms,

movement of the shuttle is very sensitive to the i action of the picker stick check or check strap,

and that if the shuttle is to operate properly the friction on the check strap must be very accurately adjusted. In this connection, it is highly desirable that said friction beadjustable while the loom is in operation, so that the movements 1 of the shuttle may "beobserved' simultaneously with the making of the adjustment.

It is accordingly'a principal object of the pres- P ent invention to provide a loom having'a lay, picker stick and check strap as aforesaid, a suitable friction member having a friction surface engaged by the checkstrap, and an eccentric for holding the check strap against said friction surface, which eccentric shall be rotatively ad- 40 justable relative to said friction surface, thereby providing a friction means which may be easily and accuratelyadjusted and which is reliable in operation.v

A further object of the invention is to provide a loom having a lay, including lay beam and rocker shaft, a picker stick, and a check strap, as aforesaid, friction means for frictionally resisting movement of the check strap, and meansifor adjusting the friction means, which adjusting means shall be carried by the lay adjacent the axis of the rocker shaft thereof whereby the said means shallremain substantially stationary during operation of theloom, to render the adjusting means accessible while the loom'is run 5" ning.

and 2;

left hand loom side i, and the lay which includes struction.

. The foregoing and other objects of the invention are accomplished in the construction illus trated on the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is an end view in elevation of part of a loom having the preferred embodiment of my in- 5- venti'on applied thereto;

Fig. 2 isa front view of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view, to a larger scale, showing part of the lay and picker stick check of Figs. 1

Fig. 4 is a view, partly in plan and partly in section, showing the parallel and certain parts of the check adjusting means of said Figs. 1 a 2;

mately on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a detail'view of a part of saidpicker stick check.

' The loom shown on the drawings includes parts and mechanisms which are of suitable usual con- 20' sti-uction forming no part of the present invention andwhich are accordingly not shown or de- I scribed. Part of the constructionthat is'shown on the drawings is also old, this part including the a lay beami and a .rocker shaft 3. The rocken shaft 3 is journalled in the loom frame and' the lay reciprocates or oscillates on the rocker shaft so that the lay beam reciprocates toward and from the front of the loom as is well known in the art, the front being at the right on Fig. 1. v

. A supporting member l, commonly known as a parallel, is mounted upon and fixed to the end of the rocker shaft 3. The parallel 4 has a flat surface 5 upon which a curved shoe 6 rocks, apicker 35 stick I being fixed to said shoer A spring return device 8 is connected to the picker stick for yieldi-ngly urging the stick outwardly of the loom, which is toward the left onFig. 2. 'Thepicker stick is thus carried by the lay. The picker stick, with shoe 6 thereon, rocks inwardly of the loom. to pick the shuttle, also notshown.. This picking mechanism as thus fardescribed is of usual con- The aforesaid picking movement of the picker stick is a very rapid movement, Wherefore appreciable force is required to check the stick at the end of such movement. The return movement of the picker. stick is not so rapid, but this return movement must be checked to impart a checking action to' the shuttle as the latter returns toward the picker stick shown on the drawings. Various ,pioke'r'st'ick' check devices have beenproposedj' but the type generally used includes a flexible Fig. 5 is a view in cross-section takenapproxi-.

check strap such as leather strap 9 to which friction is applied.

The check strap 9 is bent to form a flattened loop which encircles the picker stick 1. The ends of the strap, at one side of the loop, are fixed to the lay as by being bolted to a bracket H] on the lay beam 2, a bolt H being shown for this purpose. The check strap is thus supported directly beneath the lay beam and moves forwardly and rearwardlywith the latter. Any suitable friction member may be provided for applying friction to the other side of the loop, to frictionally resist movement of the check strap by the picker stick and thereby check the picker stick. As shown, such friction member comprises a bracket I 2 which is bolted to the lay beam and provided with fingers 93 each having a friction surface I4. The friction surfaces M are in engagement with one face of the check strap. The check strap is held against the friction surfaces M by a member which, in accordance with one aspect of my invention, consists of a manually adjustable eccentric.

The aforesaid eccentric in its preferred form consists of a hollow cast iron shell I5 which has a surface it engaging the opposite face of the check strap 9 from surfaces 14. This eccentric has hub portions by which it is fixed upon the upper end of a rod IT. The rod 9'! is eccentric of the surface it and extends vertically. The rod is journalled in bearings I8 and i9 formed in the bracket i 2, whereby the rod and eccentric are supported by the lay. Rotation of the rod l7 and eccentric serves to adjust the eccentric relative to thefriction surfaces M and to thereby vary the amount of friction that is applied to the check strap.

I find that an eccentric, such as the eccentric [5 just described, is a substantial improvement over prior devices for holding a check strap against a friction surface, because it is more reliable in operation and may easily be accurately adjusted. This construction is accordingly of value when used With any suitable means for holding the eccentric in adjusted position. I have, however, devised a novel means for such purpose, which means is located adjacent the axis of the rocker shaft 3, whereby it remains sub-- stantially stationary during operation of the loom and may accordingly be manipulated while the loom is in operation. To this end, the rod I1 is extended downwardly to a point nearly in axial alignment with the rocker shaft, and manually operable means for turning the rod to adjust the eccentric, as well as said holding means, are 10- cated at the lower end of the rod.

In-the embodiment shown, the lower end of the rod ll is journalled in a bearing member 20 which isbolted to a lug 2i projecting forwardly from the parallel 4. An arm 22 is fixed to the rod l1 below the lug H as by means of a nut 23. This arm extends horizontally and forms a handle which may be engaged by the operators hand or foot for turning the rod and eccentric. A latch lever 24 is pivoted to the arm 22 at 25 and has an end 26 for engagement with any of a plurality of radial notches 27 formed in the memberZfl. A spring 28 normally holds the end 26 in engagement with the desired notch 21.

-Upon releasing the end 26 from its notch 21, the arm 22 may be turned to thereby adjust the eccentric l5 relative to the friction surfaces M. The arm 22 being carried by the lay adjacent the axis of the rocker shaft, the arm remains substantially stationary during operation of the loom and accordingly may be manipulated while the loom is running. Upon releasing the latch 24 of the arm 22, the end 26 of the latch engages in a notch 27 and holds the arm and eccentric in adjusted position.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodiment of my invention, I claim:

1. In a loom, the combination of a reciprocating lay, a picker stick carried by said lay, a

flexible check strap forming a. loop encircling said picker stick, means fixing one side of said loop to the lay, a fixed friction member having a friction surface engaging the other side of said loop, a vertical rod rotatably supported by the lay on the opposite side of said strap from said surface, an eccentric fixed on said rod and engaging said check strap and holding the latter against said friction surface, said eccentric being manually rotatably with said rod to adjust the position of the eccentric relation to said friction surface, and manually operable means for fixing said rod and thereby said eccentric in adjusted position.

2. In a loom, the combination of a reciprocating lay, said lay comprising a lay beam and a rocker'shaft about which said lay beam oscillates, a picker stick carried by said lay, a flexible check strap forming a loop encircling said pick-er stick, an adjustable friction device for frictionally resisting movement of said check strap by said picker stick, and a manually operable adjusting member connected to said device for adjusting the latter, said member being carried by the lay adjacent the axis of said rocker shaft whereby the member remains substantially stationary during operation of the loom.

3. In a loom, the combination of a reciprocating lay, said lay comprising a lay beam and a rocker shaft about which said lay beam oscillates, a picker stick carried by said lay, a flexible check strap forming a loop encircling said picker stick, an adjustable friction device for frictionally resisting movement of said check strap by said picker stick, said device comprising a friction member carried by said lay beam and engaging said check strap and an adjustable member for holding said check strap against said friction member, an adjusting arm carried by said lay adjacent the axis of said rocker shaft, and connections from said arm to said adjustable memher for adjusting the latter from said arm.

4. In a loom, the combination of a reciprocating lay, said lay comprising a lay beam and a rocker shaft about which said'lay beam oscillates, a picker stick carried by said lay, a flexible check strap forming a loop encircling said picker stick, means fixing one side of said loop to the lay, a friction member engaging the other side of said loop, a rotatively adjustable eccentric for holding said check strap against said member, and manually operable means supported in a relatively stationary position and connected to said eccentric for adjusting the latter.

5. In a loom, the combination of a reciprocating lay, said lay including the usual lay beam and rocker shaft, a picker stick carried by said lay, a flexible check strap forming. a loop encircling said picker stick, means for supporting said check strap beneath said lay beam, a friction member for frictionally resisting movement of said check strap, a vertical rod having an eccentric for holding said check strap against said friction member, and manually operable means connected to said rod for rotating the latter and thereby adjusting said eccentric relative to said friction member, said means being supported by the lay adjacent the axis of said rocker shaft whereby said means remains substantially stationary during operation of the loom.

6. In a loom, the combination of a reciprocating lay, said lay including the usual lay beam and rocker shaft, a picker stick carried by said lay, a flexible check strap forming a loop encircling said picker stick, means for supporting said check strap beneath said lay beam, a friction member for frictionally resisting movement of said check strap, a vertical rod having an eccentric at its upper end for holding said check strap against said friction member, said rod extending downwardly to a point adjacent the axis of said rocker shaft, and manually operable means on the lower end of said rod for rotating said rod and thereby said eccentric, to adjust the eccentric relative to said friction member.

'7. In a loom, the combination of a reciprocating lay, said lay including the usual lay beam and rocker shaft, a picker stick carried by said lay, a flexible check strap forming a loop encircling said picker stick, means for supporting said check strap beneath said lay beam, a friction member for frictionally resisting movement of said check strap, a vertical rod rotatably supported on said lay, an eccentric fixed on the upper end of said rod and engaging said check strap and holding the same against said friction member, said rod extending downwardly to a point ade jacent the axis of said rocker shaft, a manually operator arm on the lower end of said rod for rotating said rod to thereby adjust said eccentric relative to said friction member, and latch means for fixing said arm and thereby said rod and eccentric in adjusted position. CARL D. BROWN. 

